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SOUTHEND
0 BRIGHTON 0 |
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Prior got a rapturous welcome from the home fans, and after his comments on the official site it is clear he wants the club to be a success. His pure class against Brighton showed us what we have been missing these past few years. His vision, his strength and his aerial ability were second-to-none. For some time, there was little action, Pettefer had a chance normally he would have put away, then Bentley hit it over the bar when put through by Dudfield. Dudfield looked incredibly sharp in this game- as did Gray who is looking fitter and stronger all the time. But what about Che Hardman Wilson? He took out Jones a treat after only half an hour and got booked for his troubles. Personally I thought Jones made a banquet out of it. And that was it for the first half, except for a wayward shot by Maher and a bit of Keystone cops with Bart outside his area which was always safe. After 40 minutes, Bentley and Pettefer came off for Bramble and Hunt. So, half-time came and we could easily have been two or three up. The second half kicked off with two changes- Eagle came on for Barrett, who played solidly in the first half and the keepers swapped over. This half, we seemed to come more alive- lots of running and good passing. Hunt had some excellent chances, one of which hit the bar. Gower looked menacing down the left hand side. Gray had a period of pure menace- 2 shots and a corner forced in only a few minutes. In fact we had plenty of corners in the second half- Prior and Edwards will be a handful for most League 2 defences at set-pieces, I can say that with confidence. In fact, Prior was unlucky with a free header which went straight to their keeper. “I’m too good for Southend” David Lee came off the bench and hit a free-kick wide and Brighton had a number of chances, especially from their number 12, who is probably the smallest player in the League, but ones easily covered by our back five- and some of which went straight at Darryl. Finally, a bit of handbags - their number 2 went right through Gower and a bit of pushing and name-calling ensued. Captain Kev calmed things down though. On the stroke of full-time, Bramble had an effort headed off the line. Husbands (looking faster than last season and caused panic down the right) came on for Dudfield in the 64th minute, whilst Corbett came on for Gray with ten minutes left and Kightly (who looks physically stronger) came on for Gower with 5 minutes left. After the match, Gower seemed to have kissed and made up with the Brighton players - he was spotted talking to one of them (don’t know who, though). Oh, and the Brighton kit van smashed its rear light on the gate. Match Ratings Griemink 7 (Flahavan 7); Wilson 7; Nicolau 7; Prior 9; Barrett 7 (Edwards 7); Gower 7 (Kightly 6); Maher 6; Bentley 6 (Hunt 8); Pettefer 6 (Bramble 6); Gray 7 (Corbett 6); Dudfield 8 (Husbands 7). |
With
Jupp injured and two players making their return from
injury, the line-up was Bart “the crazy Dutch bastard”
in goal, Wilson (finally playing at right-back), new
signing Prior, Barrett and Nicky in defence, Pettefer,
Bentley, Maher and Gower in midfield, and Gray and Dudfield
up front.